Study of Civakacintamani

Author(s): Vijaylaxmi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 8

PREFATORY NOTE
Considering the large number of articles and books which have already been the Civakacintamani, the question arises whether there is a need for writing yet another book on the same work. It should therefore be pointed out that most of these works deal with the literary merits of the Civakacintāmaṇi purely as a classic in Tamil literature. What little has been written in the form of a critical study of the work bas not been based on a detailed comparison of the contents of the Civakacintamani, with that of the extensive Sanskrit and Prakrit works dealing with the same theme. On the other hand, scholars who have been who have been engaged in the study of Jaina texts in Sanskrit and Prakrit have not so far taken serious note of works like the Civakacintamani which are in Tamil.
The present work embodies the results of the investigations of the author during 1969-1972 which were submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, under the able guidance of Professor T. Burrow, the then Boden Professor of Sanskrit. Its main aim has been to study the interaction between Sanskrit and Tamil with special reference to the Civakacintamani. In addition, it examines the linguistic impact of what may be considered as the first serious attempt to pattern a Tamil classic after the Sanskrit Mahakavya traditions. In the process many of the obscure verses in the Muttiyilampakam have also been explained from the point of view of Jaina metaphysical and religious thought.
I am grateful to Professor Burrow who suggested this line of investigation to me and steered my course through it and to Professor K. Kailasanatha Kurukkal of the University of Srilanka who shaped my career right from my student days. The completion of this work would have been impossible but for the active involvement of my husband, Dr. G. Rangarajan. For its inclusion in the L, D. Series of the L. D. Institute, I am indebted to the late Prof. A. N. Upadhye of the University of Mysore. I would be failing in my duty if I have not thanked Pt. Dalsukh Malvania, the former Director of the L. D. Institute of Indology and Dr. Nagin J. Shab, the present Director for bringing out this work in print.
If scholars notice any defects which have been overlooked by me in this first attempt to study a Tamil classic in comparison with other related works in Indian literature, I would be grateful if the same were brought to my attention.
International Institute of Tamil Studies
Adyar May, 1980
R. Vijayalakshmy